Calf 13 - Mama's

Mama was due to give birth tomorrow - May 17.  This morning when I went out to feed the cattle I found her with her new calf.

As usual Mama was very protective of her calf.

In the afternoon after the cattle ate and then went out to the temporary corral to rest, I closed the gate to the main corral.  Then with Curtis and Donna's help I separated Mama from her calf so Donna and I could band/castrate her little bull calf.  Yes, that's right.... in a year of 9 heifers and 4 bull calves Mama had a bull calf.

Mama is smart and fast and from outside the fence I couldn't get her separated from her calf and through the gate which Curtis was handling.  I got my pickup and used that to herd Mama from her calf.  Of course they stuck together like glue.  One time I got out of my pickup and used the pitchfork handle to try to get them to move apart.  Mama came after me and I threw the pitchfork in the pickup bed and jumped back inside the pickup and closed the door before Mama got me.  Donna found this amusing.

Finally Mama slipped up and I got the pickup between her and her calf and herded Mama out of the corral.  Curtis swung the gate to close and then ran up a fence before Mama could get him.  Once I latched the gate Donna and I were able to enter the south corral and band the calf.  Mama was on the other side of the fence and furious at us.  Good thing I built a strong fence.  Once the calf was banded we let Mama back through the gate to her calf.

All while this was going Toby the bull got interested and started to get in the way.  Curtis opened the gate and Toby went out of the south corral.  Once he was out he got excited and jumped around.  I opened a gate to the loading corral where the grass was green and tall.  Once he could eat the grass Toby was happy.  When I was done banding the calf we moved Toby out of the loading corral and back to the south corral.  He wasn't too keen on that idea.  Before he went into the south corral Toby bent down and rubbed his head and neck in the dirt in the main corral.  Then he went jumping and twisting and bucking back through the gate into the south corral.  Lately Toby has shown more signs of life.  Must be those cows going into heat.   A few more weeks Toby, a few more weeks.

You can tell this is one of Buddy's calves as the calf looks more like Buddy than he does Mama.

Mama's udder and nipples are so big.  The back two nipples seem to be small enough for the calf to suck on.

60 days after the first calf was born on March 17, I am now finally done calving for the year.